Elizabeth and Vi packed the last of the dishes and glasses in the kitchen while Dylan and Cooper tackled his room. They had most everything done, but it still felt like a lot.

"How's Dylan liking school?" Vi wondered.

"He seems to like it."

"That's good. Coop is liking it too."

"Mom!"

"Dylan." She turned as he came in the room.

"I forgot to ask. Can Harper come over? We need to work on our project."

"Who's Harper?" Vi asked.

"Harper Thornton, Aunt Vi. She's my friend and my partner in our social studies project."

"Oh, I see. Thornton, huh?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"When?" Elizabeth asked him, steering the conversation away from where Vi was taking it.

"Today."

"Dylan, I don't know. We're moving."

"I can ask if we can study at her house."

"No. I'd rather you didn't." She knew he needed to work on the project and what would it hurt if they did it today or the next? "Ok. Harper can come over."

"Thanks, Mom."

Vi raised her eyebrow at Elizabeth. "Harper any relation to your beloved Jack?"

"My former best friend, Jack, is her father, yes."

"Have you talked with him? How does he look?"

"Vi, I don't see why that matters. He moved away sixteen years ago and never kept in touch."

"Maybe he has a reason."

"Yes and it's not a reason, it's an excuse."

"He isn't Ray. He's not going to treat you badly."

"You don't know that. It's been so long and I don't know him anymore, Vi. He could be a completely different person."

"In all fairness, you are a completely different person, Beth. Wouldn't it make sense that he changed a bit too?"

"I'm going to take this box down to the car." She didn't want to talk about him anymore. The infuriating, frustrating, adorable, sexy man who had stolen her heart along time before. It hurt too much.

….

Three hours and three car trips later, Dylan and Elizabeth were officially moved in to their cottage.

As much as help from Vi and Grace was needed, she wanted everything in the spot she chose. It was all about controlling her own life and not allowing anyone else to control it for her.

"Mom, can I get a dog?"

"Maybe. I need to check my rental agreement to see if pets are allowed first."

"Ok. I want a big dog. Like a golden retriever and I want to name him Jedi."

"Of course you do," she said with a laugh.

Outside, Jack was dropping off Harper. "Just give me a call when you're ready to come home, Honey Bee."

"I will. You know, it would be easier if I had my own cell phone. I could just text you."

"Nice try. Just ask Ms. Thatcher to borrow hers."

"Had to try," she said with a grin.

Jack pulled an envelope from the visor and handed it to her. "Can you give this to Ms. Thatcher please?"

"Sure. Bye, Dad."

"Bye, sweetie."

When the doorbell rang, Elizabeth opened the door. "Hi, Harper. Come in. Ignore the boxes."

"Don't worry, I know all about moving."

"Would you like a soda or some water?"

"Soda, please."

Elizabeth handed her a coke and pointed towards the dining room. "Dylan's in there if you want to head in."

"Thank you, Ms. Thatcher." She started to walk away but turned back. "I almost forgot. This is for you."

"What is it?"

"Not sure. It's from my dad."

Elizabeth watched her walk away and stared at the envelope a moment before setting it on the counter and resuming the unpacking process.

A note or letter from Jack. What could it possibly say that he hadn't already told her on the beach? "Later," she muttered. She would read it later.

After a couple hours of work, Harper came in the living room which was taking shape nicely. "Ms. Thatcher?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"May I use your phone? We're done for today so I'm going to call my dad."

"Sure. It's on the counter in the kitchen."

Elizabeth heard Harper speaking. "I'm ready to come home, Dad…..Yes, I gave it to her….I don't know…can you please ask her?"

Elizabeth shook her head. Having his eleven year old daughter doing his dirty work. It did make her more curious what was in the envelope though.

"He will be here soon," Harper told her.

A few minutes later Jack arrived.

"Thank you for letting me come over."

"You're welcome, sweetie. I'll see you Monday at school, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Elizabeth opened the door for her and then closed it behind her, avoiding eye contact with Jack.

She walked into the kitchen and picked up the letter, took a deep breath, and opened it.

"Mom! What's for dinner? I'm starved!"

"Anything but pizza."

"Can we go to that diner in town?"

"Sure, bud. Give me a couple minutes to change and we will go." She took the envelope with her into her room and sat on her bed which still needed sheets. When she started to read, she prepared herself.

Dear Blue Eyes,

It's been forever since I've written you a note. That's the problem now, isn't it? I failed you. I broke my promise to you years ago. Saying I'm sorry right now will mean little without explanation, at this point. So here it goes.

When I got to UT, I missed you fiercely. My best friend wasn't with me anymore. I thought about writing or calling you every single day. Problem was, I knew if I did, I'd soon have to tell you how I really felt about you, about us. I should have told you before graduation, but I couldn't. You were amazing, the whole world at your fingertips, what did I have to offer you? I didn't want to hold you back. I had no idea if your father would even approve of me. Then, and this was what held me back the most, I couldn't imagine someone as wonderful as you feeling the same way I did. The idea of facing that kind of heartbreak paralyzed me.

About 2 months into my first semester, I realized how completely idiotic I was being. I wanted to know if we could really be something. I didn't want to be without you. I made a plan to tell you everything when I came home for Christmas, to ask you to give me a chance. I just wanted to do it in person. Unfortunately, by then I was too late. You'd met someone and brought him home with you. Looking back, maybe I should have fought for you. Told you everything still. I don't know. I went back to UT, the next year I met Ashley, and that was that.

I guess all that's left to say now is, I'm sorry. I'm very sorry. You were right. I made a decision that had to do with both our lives and I never gave you a chance to have your say. You deserved better than that. I know we can't go back now, a lot of life has happened, but if you are willing, I'd like to try to be your friend again. I miss you, Elizabeth. I promise if given another chance, I won't hurt you again.

Your friend,

Jack

His letter brought so many memories back to her heart. The fact that he had thought he had nothing to offer her was eye opening. She didn't need anything but his heart. She would have been content with that if it meant they could have been together.

Yes, she had brought Ray home that Christmas. They had only been together a short while and he had insisted on meeting her family. She had imagined that she was falling for him. In reality, it was his charisma and charm that she fell for. Not his heart. Jack was who she wanted all along, but her anger kept her from remembering that.

"Mom! Are you ready?"

"Almost!" She dropped the letter on the bed to read again later and hurried to get ready for dinner.

The next afternoon, Elizabeth needed to see Jack. She needed to know more. So using the number in her phone from when Harper called him, she texted, "Busy? This is Elizabeth."

"Not busy. What's up?"

"Meet me the beach. 10 minutes?"

"I'll b there." Jack didn't need to ask where on the beach. He knew.

"Harper? I'm going to the beach for a few moments. Use the house phone to call me if you need to. I won't be long."

"Ok." Her distant tone suggested she was deeply engrossed in her book. More than likely she wouldn't even notice he was gone.

When he arrived at their spot, she was there pacing. When she saw him, she held up the letter. "This, Jack? Did you mean these things?"

"Every single word," he answered honestly.

"Ok, then…" she let out a deep sigh. As scared as she was to let him in, she needed a friend. She knew that. "Don't you try anything. We can be friends. That's all I can offer you, Jack."

"Alright."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

She nodded and covered her mouth, trying not to cry.

"Blue Eyes, don't cry," he told her, reaching for her hands. "Come here."

She hesitated and then walked into his arms and let him hold her. "I missed you," she whispered. "So much."

"I'm sorry for everything and I do promise I will never abandon you again."

She held on tight for a moment longer before letting go. "I'm sorry. I've been a little emotional lately."

"That's alright. Come here and let's sit." They sat down in the sand side by side. "You know, I forgot how beautiful it is here."

"I didn't. This has been my favorite place for years. Even when I was in Harvard. I used to close my eyes and imagine being back here. It got me through a lot of hard times."

"Is that what brought you back home to the Cape? Hard times?"

She dug her feet deeper into the sand. "You could say that."

"Elizabeth, we're friends remember? At least that's what we're working at now. Tell me."

She wanted to tell him. Even though she had Vi, and Julie, who lived in Pennsylvania now to talk to, it wasn't the same as an honest to goodness friend. Tricky thing was, once the words were out, she couldn't take them back. The last thing she wanted was to feel vulnerable again. That's how she felt any time she discussed her past.

"It's hard, huh?" Jack spoke interrupting her thoughts. "What if I share first?"

"Alright. What brought Jack Thornton back to Hyannis?"

Jack leaned back on his forearms staring out into the ocean. "It's so cliché really, but here it goes. I met Ashley my second year at UT. She was an interior design major. We seemed to hit it off right off the bat. I got a job right out of school for the Austin City Fire Department so we got married and stuck around there. The city was great for her work. Problem was, she liked the storybook idea of being married to a firefighter more than the reality."

"What do you mean?"

"I worked odd hours, and some holidays. Disaster doesn't strike on a 9 to 5 schedule."

"No, I suppose it doesn't."

"I didn't always want to talk about what happened at work. We see some pretty scary, messed up stuff you know? She didn't get it. I'd come home and I'd just want to shower and take a few minutes to myself. To her, I was being unfair. She'd waited for me to come home all day.

"About 6 months before everything hit the fan, we lost someone on the team. His name was Drake Lawhorn. Good guy, tough firefighter. We were in the same year at UT too."

"I'm so sorry, Jack. That must have been devastating."

He nodded. "We were called into an old building. It came down so fast. We got him out, but he died later at the hospital due to his injuries. Ashley wanted me to quit."

"But being a firefighter was your dream."

"It was. It still is. Ashley and I talked about it. She told me she understood. We were down a man at the station. No one was ready to just replace him so we each took extra shifts for a while. There was also a promotion I had been working hard for." Jack closed his eyes tight, fighting the memories. "The same day I got the promotion, I found out Ashley was seeing someone else, a guy from the station too. I came home early to surprise her and found them."

"Oh, my goodness! Where was Harper?"

"At a friend's house, thankfully," Jack sighed. "I tried to keep us together as a family but Ashley didn't want that. She didn't really want Troy either. She's with someone else now, last I heard."

"Wow. Just… wow."

"Yeah. Well enough about my train wreck. Your turn."

"Alright." She brushed the sand off her hands before folding them around her knees as she sat. Now that Jack had opened himself up like that, she felt no reason or fear to hide anymore. "You know that guy I brought home that fateful Christmas break you talked about in your letter? Well, I married him my junior year of college. He turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Jack expelled a harsh breath. "What happened?"

"To put it lightly, he was a control freak. It was annoying at times but it just got worse and worse as the years went on. He wanted to dictate everything. What I wore, where I went grocery shopping, where Dylan went to school, where we spent holidays. I didn't have a say in anything. If I did, it was me giving him two options and having him pick. Even that wasn't really a say because I had to pick options he'd like to try to keep the peace." She let out a harsh laugh. "He even hired a cook because he hated my cooking."

"That's crazy! You're an awesome cook."

"How would you know?" she laughed.

"Remember our monthly pizza nights with our friends? The tradition we started after my dad built the outdoor pizza oven in the backyard? You'd make the best side dishes for it. Don't even get me started on your desserts."

"I almost forgot about that. I loved cooking for everyone back then."

"You were amazing. Maybe we need to jump start that tradition again. Pete and Clara are still here. It could be fun."

"Thanks," she felt herself blushing. "But I'm not sure I could cook like that again." Her eyes drifted back to the sand.

Jack could tell there was more to the story. He hoped it would be therapeutic if she got it all out. "So what happened next?"

"Ray was a lawyer and one day he lost a very important case, then his job. After that he started drinking a lot. That's when things got really ugly."

"Did he hurt you?"

"Physically no. Not really. His words were his weapons when it came to me. I was not good enough for anything. He'd say I let myself go and wasn't attractive anymore, but then would tell me which clothes to wear because he didn't like how other men would look at me. I wasn't a good mom, I was stupid, and if a cried over it he'd get mad and tell me I was being too sensitive. That man could tear me down with a single sentence, and I let him for far too long."

"What about Dylan?"

"Ray was never a stellar father. When things got bad, he pretty much ignored our son's existence. The last night we were all together he came home drunk and saw Dylan and I laughing, playing a board game. It infuriated him that we could be happy when he wasn't. I was just trying to give Dylan a normal night." She stopped just as the tears began spilling over. Jack placed his hand on her back. "He started throwing and smashing things around the house. I sent Dylan to the neighbor's. I didn't know what was coming but I didn't want him to see it. He told them what was going on because the guy next door came running over with a bat in his hands. When he showed up, Ray was yelling at me, holding my arm so tightly I had bruises the next day."

"So you got out that night?"

She nodded. "Dylan never stepped foot back into our home again. He couldn't do it. After the police came and took Ray, I ran through grabbing only enough to fill a couple suitcases and we came here for a bit. We didn't move right away through. I stayed in DC during the separation and divorce hearings. Which Ray dragged out for a year. Mind you, he never really got much better during that time. He just couldn't except that it was over. "

Jack wiped his own eyes. His heart felt like it was now in a million pieces in the sand. "You're a brave woman, Blue Eyes. Strong and beautiful." The words needed to be said.

She just shrugged, unable to accept his kind words. "I got one amazing thing out of it all though. My son. Dylan is my greatest blessing."

"He's a great kid. You should be very proud. I know Harper's really enjoying his friendship."

"Dylan feels the same way about her. She is a wonderful girl, Jack."

"Thanks. How's Dylan holding up with the divorce now?"

"It's been hard, but I think he's been happier here than he ever was back in DC."

"Does he still see his father?"

"Not really. I'd take him to see Ray while he was living at his parent's, supposedly trying to get his life back on track. Practically had to drag Dylan, but at the time I thought it was important that Ray know his son. Maybe it would give him the strength to get better. Not for my sake, but his own." Jack nodded that he understood. "The last time we went, Ray was drunk again and said some things he sshouln't have to Dylan. So that was it. Dylan doesn't need that in his life."

"Wow. What a…." he sighed. "I'm so very sorry."

"Me too."

Jack could see her retreating into herself. He wrapped his arm around her in a friendly embrace. "But it's over now. You and Dylan have a fresh start here. You've got the cottage now."

"And friends," she whispered. "I feel like I haven't had real friends in years."

"I meant what I said, Blue Eyes. I'm not going anywhere."

They stared out at the ocean for a while, taking in all they'd heard and the changes that were happening.

"Hey, did you hear Clara and Pete are pregnant?"

"Yes!" Elizabeth squealed. "I'm so happy for them."

"I like being here again. Life was good back then. I know we can't go back but maybe, I don't know, maybe getting back to our roots will be good."

"Guitars, fires and friends. That was all we needed back then."

"I wouldn't mind some of that now. You still have your guitar?"

"I do, but I haven't played it in ages. I ended up storing at my parent's house for year. I was kind of afraid Ray would just get rid of it."

"You should play again. We can even play together."

"I think... I'd like that."

His phone rang in his back pocket. "It's Harper." He answered. "Sweetie, you alright?"

"Where'd you go?"

"Just out for a walk, why?"

"Because it's almost dinner time and I'm not allowed to use the stove unsupervised. So if you want dinner…"

"Oh wow, I lost track of time. Sorry, Honey Bee. I'll be right up." He hung up. "Parental responsibilities await. Where's Dylan?"

"Spending the afternoon with my sister and her son. I should go too. I'm supposed to met them for dinner at my parent's." They both stood and began walking.

"Which sister? Julie or Vi?"

"Vi. Julie lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and 3 kids."

"Oh really?" Jack laughed. "So the wild child made some roots, huh?"

"Oh, yeah! Love will do that. She met this ridiculously adorable shy man named Mike Hickam in college. She fell in love instantly and the rest is history. I'm happy for her. At least one of us could find real love."

"Only one? What about Vi?"

"Divorced. Her husband just up and left one day. She's okay though. She's got Cooper and has made a real life here."

"You are too."

"Thanks."

They said goodbye at the road and began to walk their separate ways. Elizabeth turned back to see Jack running up the hill towards his house just as Harper was coming outside. She didn't see Elizabeth.

"I've made a decision," Harper said. "You're late and we need to go grocery shopping."

"So, pizza?" Jack laughed.

"Yup!"

"Alright, but we need to hit the market on the way home. Deal?"

"Can we buy cookie dough ice cream?"

"Sure."

"Awesome!"

Elizabeth laughed. she could hear the whole conversation from down the hill. She arrived at her parents house only 15 minutes later than planned. Dylan greeted her at the door telling her all about his day.

"Good evening, dear!" Grace hurried over to give her a hug. "How are things at the cottage?"

"Great. I made some real progress today."

"Wonderful." Grace stared at her daughter with a smile. "You seem… lighter right now. As if less of the world's weight isn't resting on your shoulders."

She thought for a moment. "You know, I think I'm getting there. Finally."